


A Favor

by Luneth



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21930292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luneth/pseuds/Luneth
Summary: Claude has a favor to ask, if Hilda is willing to humor him.
Relationships: Hilda Valentine Goneril/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58
Collections: Fire Emblem Three Houses Rarepair Port Secret Santa





	1. A favor...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BroomballKraken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroomballKraken/gifts).



> This was part of the FE3H gift exchange! It ended up being quite a bit longer than the other two haha.
> 
> The three chapters have big time-jumps between them. The first is during school, the second is after the war, and the third is some time after that.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunch?

“Hey Hilda!” Claude raised one hand in greeting, the other planted on his hip in his usual lackadaisical posture. “How’d you like to do a favor for your dear house leader?”

“Wha- me?” Hilda shot him an incredulous look. “Why are you asking  _ me _ ?”

“Because despite your knack for avoiding effort, you’re the best person for the job.” Claude extended his hand out. “What do you say? I’ll make it worth your while.” Hilda pursed her lips and eyed him with suspicion.

“Well...what is it?”

“Would you pack a lunch and some sweets to go?” He asked, “Whatever you want, enough for two, and meet me at the wyvern stables at noon.”

“Lunch, huh…” Hilda pressed a finger to her cheek, and her tongue flicked out across her lips in thought. “I… _ guess _ I could do that, since you’re awful at cooking.”

“Great!” Claude clapped his hands together. “I’ll see you there.” With that, he spun around and went striding off before Hilda could say anything else. She huffed in annoyance, then sighed and tossed her pigtails over her shoulders. Well, Claude’s plans were always interesting, at least. 

Unless he was planning to drag her through some hike through the forest. She screwed her nose up at the thought. Nah...Claude wouldn’t. Would he?

000

Noon found her hauling a basket packed with food (pheasant roast and fish sauté) to the wyvern’s stables. There at the entrance was Claude and his favorite wyvern, all saddled up and ready to go.

“Hey you came!” He flashed his usual grin and gave her a sharp two-fingered salute. “Great, let’s go!”

“Go?” Hilda clutched her basket to her chest and took a step back. “Go where??”

“Calm down, calm down…” Claude shook his head and held both hands up. “You won’t even have to tire your poor little feet. Gerome here will be taking care of it.” He gave the wyvern behind him a pat on the neck, then shot Hilda a sly wink. “I’ll give you a hint: You don’t need your weapons, though bring them just in case. That’s just common sense.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hilda rolled her eyes. “You better not be dragging me off to some big quest or something.”

“If I had a big quest that needed doing-” Claude sauntered over to her and plucked the basket from her hands. “-I’d take someone with a little more work ethic. C’mon. I said it would be worth your while, didn’t I?”

“Hrm…” Hilda pouted. Claude wrapped the basket up secure in his wyvern’s pack, then turned to offer her a hand. Huffing, Hilda trotted over and accepted it, letting him help her onto the wyvern.

“All set?” Claude swung himself up in front of her and grabbed the reins. “Hold on tight!”

She wrapped her arms around his waist as he tugged his wyvern’s reins, prompting it to leap upwards into the sky. She yelped and squeezed him hard as they swooped upwards in a fast and dirty ascent, not at ALL like the gentle movements of Hilda’s own wyvern. Her cheek pressed against Claude’s back, she could feel him chuckling as he swung the wyvern around to go gliding out of Garreg Mach.

Once they were cruising, Hilda leaned back and brushed the hair out of her eyes to look around. She didn’t have to focus on flying, she could sit back and enjoy the view. Unfortunately Claude’s idea of a leisure flight involved a lot more dodging and weaving through the mountaintops. Still, he was an expert flyer, and Hilda knew by now as long as she kept a hand on his belt she wouldn’t fall.

It was a lovely day for a ride, too. Perfect weather, finally starting to warm up, and clear skies. Good thing too, if Claude had tried to get her on a wyvern in the rain, she would have fed him to it.

As if reading her thoughts (She had a running bet with Marianne that he definitely  _ couldn’t _ ), Claude suddenly pulled the wyvern down into a sharp nosedive, right into the rocky cliffs below. Hilda shrieked and flung herself forward to hold onto Claude for dear life. She squeezed her eyes shut as the wind whistled past. Her pigtails flailed about behind her, smacking against her shoulders.

No impact came, just a heavy twist in her stomach as they pulled up and evened out. She felt Claude pat her hand.

“Hilda, if you keep squeezing like that then we’re both going down.”

Hilda finally cracked her eyes open to glare up at him.

“Well maybe if you hadn’t  _ scared the stuffing out of me _ .”

“It takes more than that to lose stuffing like yours.” Claude pulled his wyvern in to land. “How about you take a look around?”

Hilda’s frown faded as she unwrapped herself from around Claude’s back to check out where he had landed. She gasped. They were still in the Ogmha mountains but...somehow or another they had settled down in a small meadow between the peaks, one absolutely bursting in a carpet of wildflowers. They had settled on a flat rock on the edge, so as not to disturb them with the wyvern’s claws. Claude swung himself off the saddle, then gave an elaborate bow up to Hilda.

“After you, mi’lady?”

Hilda giggled as she slid down off the wyvern’s back. She trotted out to the field and spun around, taking in the gentle scent on the breeze and the sun on her face. Claude grabbed the lunch-basket out of the wyvern’s pack, then pulled a blanket out of it as well.

“As promised, a grand feast for your efforts!” Claude tossed out the blanket out. “Shall we see what has been prepared for us?” Hilda laughed and came over to join him.

“Gee Claude,” Hilda plopped down on the blanket, “if you had told me this was a picnic I would have been happy to go!”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Claude rummaged around the basket. “Ah, nice choices.” He produced a flask and two cups out of his bag, and poured out some beverage and passed one to her. She took a sniff, detected something fruity.

“Nothing that would get us in trouble with Seteth,” Claude shot her a wink and raised his glass. “A toast! To taking the time to sit back and relax in good company.”

“Sure,” Hilda grinned and raised her cup as well, “I’ll even agree on the good company.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was just water flavored with fruit juice. Honest. Don't fly a wyvern drunk, folks.


	2. Another one...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dance?

Hilda sighed to herself, hovering off by the wall of the ballroom. It was a grand party to celebrate her brother’s latest triumph, defeating a bandit warlord that had been causing trouble to the south. Nobles from all over Fodlan were here to celebrate, and she had talked and conversed and smiled with a good number of them. And yet, she had yet to see…

“Lady Goneril!”

Hilda’s head snapped up at the sound of her name, a charming smile already pasted on her face. It loosened somewhat when she recognized the man striding toward her. Only Claude would show up to a Goneril party decked out in bright gold Almyran-style garments. Only he could pull it off, while also sauntering over and sweeping himself down into a bow before the precious baby daughter of Goneril.

“Whatever is the fair Hilda Valentine Goneril doing playing wallflower? Trying to fill in for Marianne?”

“Oh hush Claude. I’m already bummed Mari couldn’t make it.” Hilda sighed and twisted around, making her dress swish about. “I wanted to show her my new dress and jewelry. I feel like I haven’t seen her in forever!” Claude grimaced and scratched his cheek.

“It’s true. Compared to when we were all in school, or fighting together, we haven’t been able to meet up as much.” A sly grin spread across his face. “Ah lazy school days. I kind of miss when you had those pigtails.”

Hilda puffed her cheeks up at his comment. Her hair was presently done up in an elaborate style that had taken an hour for her hairdresser to get just right. Combined with her brand new gown, she was done up like a fancy doll.

There was a reason for that. While the party was to celebrate her brother’s achievements, it was also a prime opportunity. With the war over, Hilda was at the right age to be looking into marriage. Thus, the party was full of suitors seeking her attention. She entertained them all, and quite a few of them seemed pretty interesting, but it was really starting to weigh on her.

“It’s just been exhausting,” Hilda huffed and twiddled with one of her earrings. “I’ve had to talk to so many guys. Even I get tired of that after a while.”

“Mm…” Claude’s crossed his arms and gave a sympathetic nod. “Yep, they’ve really been flocking to you.” She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You’ve been watching?”

“Of course. I had to choose my opening carefully just to talk to you.” He heaved a dramatic sigh and let his shoulders slump. “I swear I was about to hip check someone if a space didn’t clear up.”

Hilda couldn’t help a soft giggle at that. Her spirits were already lightening in Claude’s cheerful presence. He had that effect on people, she had to admit.

“They’re not bad guys,” She pouted and pressed a hand to her cheek. “There’s just, so many…!”

“Hm…” Claude glanced over his shoulder at the orchestra playing across the hall. “Well, I have a proposal that I think could give you about, a song’s worth of peace.” The song ended. Claude flashed her a wink before giving a light bow and offering a hand out to her. “Lady Goneril, would you allow the honor of a dance with me?”

Hilda smirked and accepted his hand. The next song began and Claude spun her onto the dance floor.

“A waltz, huh?” Claude mused to himself as they fell into step. “It’s been awhile. Sorry if I step on any toes, my lady.” Hilda snorted.

“If you step on any toes, you’ll have done it on purpose.”

“Perceptive as always. Do you have any requests? About about the pretentious-looking guy in the green suit?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They stepped on five feet that day.
> 
> Claude doesn't usually call her Lady Goneril he was pretending to be some random other noble.


	3. One more...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Would you...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point they're dating so obviously even Holst knows what's up.

“Almost there. Watch your step.”

Claude offered a hand to help Hilda across the gap in the ledge. Hilda paused to catch her breath. She peered down the cliff they were making their way across and wrinkled her nose.

“Geez Claude, couldn't we have taken a wyvern?”

“A wyvern can’t reach this place.” Claude heaved himself up to a higher cliff, then pulled Hilda up with him. “It’s a secret spot, so no blabbing. That’s an order from the king of Almyra.” Hilda snorted and gave him a light punch on the shoulder.

“Sure thing, your  _ Majesty.”  _ He winced at the sarcasm in her tone.

“Aw come on.” He ducked into a small crack between the mountain. “I’m showing you my secret hideaway. Can’t you at least do me the favor of keeping the ‘secret’ part?”

“Of course I will you silly.” Hilda grimaced as she followed him into the tight passageway. “Who would I even tell, anyway?”

“I dunno, your brother?” Claude chuckled and shuffled himself through the crack. “Though I’m pretty sure we tacitly agreed we wouldn’t be sharing  _ any _ mention of this outing to him.”

“He’s mellowed a lot in the past years!” Hilda protested as she fumbled her way through after him. Claude was like, twice as big as her, so how did he sneak through so easily? “Now he’s all like, ‘you’re a grown woman now, Hilda.’ Or ‘I’m so proud of who you’ve become, Hilda.’”

“I’m glad,” Claude answered. When no clever quip followed up his comment, Hilda shot him a quizzical look.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Claude offered her a hand to tug her through. “C’mon, you’re missing the view.”

Curious, Hilda accepted the hand, then yelped a bit when Claude yanked her the rest of the way out.

“Claude!” She huffed, ignoring the fact that she was practically in his lap. “You got dirt in my hair.”

“It was inevitable,” Claude laughed, “I just helped you accept it. C’mon, look.” He pointed past her, and she twisted around to look.

“Oh!” Her eyes went wide. “W...Wow…”

They sat on a small outcropping in the mountain, and before them stretched a great forest, bathed in the glow of a full moon. Above them a blanket of stars stretched out across the sky, a glittering ocean of jewels.

“Best view in the house, right?” Claude sat back on his hands, face tilted back to watch the sky. “Too small for a wyvern to land on. Too hard to climb up the cliff. I used to come here a lot when I wanted to be alone.” He sighed and lay down on his back. “Here, it’s just you and the stars.” His expression melted into a serene, nostalgic smile. “But at the same time, we all look at the same sky. Every one of us.”

“Yep.” Hilda leaned back to breathe in the night air. “Wow, this is amazing...thanks for taking me here, Claude.”

“Hey, it’s all because you were willing to do me the favor of hiking out here with me.” Claude grinned and scratched his nose. “Gee, I bet I’m the only person who can get favors out of Hilda Valentine Goneril.”

“Well!” Hilda huffed and crossed her arms. “I mean, as long as it’s not anything too crazy.”

“Oh?” Claude sat up, “Well, you mind if I test that theory?” Hilda shot him a skeptical look.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Well…” Claude got to his feet in slow, leisurely movements. “How crazy are we talking here? Would you clean my room for me?”

“Um, no.” Hilda screwed her face up and crossed her arms. “I’ve  _ seen _ your room. No thank you.” Claude clasped his arms around his head, sauntering off to the edge of the cliff.

“How about sit through one of those noble meetings in my place?”

“Also no. I’d die of boredom.” Claude chuckled.

“Yeah, I’ve come darn close myself.” He let his hands drop down to his sides. “I’m just kidding though. I can handle some stuffy meetings.” He paused for a moment, then went on. “Y’know, that’s one of the many things I find charming about you, Hilda. For all your efforts to avoid it, I know you’re someone I can count on when I really need it.”

“Compliments now?” Hilda frowned and pressed a finger to her cheek. “Now I  _ definitely _ know you’re going to ask me something.” Claude glanced over his shoulder to shoot her one of his signature grins.

“Perceptive as always.”

“Well I guess I don’t mind.” Hilda gave a rueful smile. “Helping you out always seems to lead to interesting things.”

“Glad you think so!” Claude banged one fist to his chest with a smile. “Then, to satisfy your curiosity-”

In one smooth motion Claude swept down to kneel before her, resting on one knee. Hilda blinked in surprise, then once more in astonishment. Claude kept his head bowed as he offered up a box holding a glimmering ring.

“I know you’re not one to do favors, but I’m about to ask a pretty big one:” Claude raised his head to give her a wide smile. “Would you marry me, Hilda? I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You…” Hilda could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She sniffed and covered her mouth with her hands. “Y-You’re such a d-dope, honestly…” She hiccuped, then threw herself forward into him. She slung her arms around him tight as they both fell in a heap together.

“I-I do wanna marry you!” She cried into his shoulder. “I’m gonna spend the rest of my life at your stupid dorky side!”

“Oof, haha…” Claude clapped his arms down over her back. “Glad to hear it, Hilda. Just don’t squeeze me so hard that the rest of my life comes too soon, ya hear?” He pushed her up so he could see her face, and offered a smile. Not one of his usual coy grins, but a genuine warm smile. “I want to be around to throw the best wedding in history.” He winked. “-with an accompanying best feast, of course.” Hilda laughed and lunged forward to hug him again.

“God, I love you, you dork!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hilda still complained about the walk back, but mostly just for sport.
> 
> I can imagine them getting married at the gates of Fodlan's Locket.


End file.
